No matter the extent to which discussions went between Presidents Buhari and Obama following the former’s recent visit, same-sex marriage and Nigeria’s war against internal terror must continue to be on the front burner in the immediate weeks or months ahead. America’s position on both is well known to all. Nigeria, in their view, is to embrace the warped philosophy of same-sex marriage and in fact homosexualism as a way of life. In the fight against insurgency in the Northeast Nigeria is also to observe all known rules of engagement particularly as they border on human rights.
Nigeria has legislated on homosexualism. While the US and her allies accept the right of the Nigerian legislature to make laws on just about anything, it becomes “mobocratic” to them when the majority appears to “lord it over” the minority by the majority of Nigerians denying homosexuals their so called gay rights. Making a cursory judgment on this, one wonders why Africa is not insisting that the law on bigamy in Western countries is abrogated since the African heritage supports a man marrying two or more wives at a time.
On the Boko Haram war; from the point of view of the enemy it is a war of attrition if not annihilation and not a game of cricket. They have observed no rules of engagement and no pretensions have been made about that from the enemy camp. To this extent it stands to reason that he who lives by the sword must be made to face the sword. It is this same principle that America and the rest of the advanced world have followed in their firm resolve never to negotiate with terror no matter the prize. This is the only way to accept the appropriateness of the US invasion of Pakistan in a bid to hunt down Osama Bin Laden. This is the only way to explain the raid on Entebbe, Uganda by Israel in 1976. And many more such extra diplomatic resorts.
On the other hand, Nigeria has been known to extend the olive branch to groups of farragoes that have unleashed terror on the land. This is the main fabric of the philosophy of Nigeria’s amnesty programme. And indeed the country’s leadership has declared it is ready to negotiate with those plundering Northern Nigeria. America and the rest of the world have not seen anything wrong in Nigeria negotiating with terror.
America must order its priorities. It is a paradox that a country as America that has not followed the rules in combating terror frowns at what they considers abuse of human rights against the Boko Haram insurgents. America forgets that if Boko Haram is allowed to “defeat” Nigeria, then the terror group would have no bigger enemy to fight than the United States. Besides outside Africa, America would suffer the most should Nigeria of over 170 million people, mostly unskilled, is destabilized. The exodus of refugees will not end until the US and its allies are saturated with unwanted stowaways.
That said, America and the advanced world must not always set the pace in the global scheme of things. And indeed in matters of culture they have not been pace setters. The first man to wear shoes lived in Africa’s Egypt and Persia. The first man to eat pasta lived in China. Zero was invented by Babylonians, Indians and Mayans. The first people to count in numbers were Sumerians, Egyptians and Greeks. Nubians of today’s Africa were the first to pave roads with stones. Beyond this every nation has what is termed the “spirit of the nation”. Its sanctity is non-negotiable.
The African spirit that must be respected is subsumed in certain taboos, sacrileges, dos and don’ts. Same-sex marriage is a taboo in Africa and it will be the height of subjugation for Africa to accept it. The slaver may be blamed when he enslaves the body. But the enslaved takes the fall when the slaver succeeds in enslaving the spirit. The mettlesome spirit of the African rests in the culture of values, mores and habits of decency. And this spirit seems to be all that Africa has – no money; no power, no other wealth. Without apologies Obama’s presidency should be gain and not loss to Africa. I do not quite believe that an American President of Chinese or Indian extraction will be as “prone to the Joneses” as President Obama has been, with his Africa holding the smoldering end of the fagot.
If America wants to be factually realistic in their relations with Nigeria, they should grab the opportunity of perhaps meeting the first Nigerian Head of State who is genuinely interested in fighting corruption. They should help him figure out how to sleep with strange bedfellows he must work with. They should help him fight the unconventional terror war in unconventional ways just as we are doing. They should not offend his sensibilities by trying to “force” a highly principled and religious man to accept the sacrilege of same-sex marriage. America must not be chasing rats in the house that is Nigeria when the house is on fire.
Indeed as China threatens the US in the new global balance of economic power, it stands to reason that America must explore further its sphere of influence in Africa. This is particularly so where Africa is more a line of least resistance to China than it is to the US. If the US keeps wielding the big stick, then they make it easier for countries like China to more easily skew the balance of economic power in its direction. Finally, homosexualism offends all known Christian, Islamic and traditionalist doctrines in Africa. Nigeria must resist it. And so must the whole of Africa.
Chuba Keshi
Keshi, Dr. of Business Research and Dr. of Administration, has a first degree in Political Science.
